


beneath this skin (i’m still human)

by kahlen369



Series: Fated (Mated) [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alpha Kara Danvers, Alpha Supergirl, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Canon Interpretation, Alternate Character Interpretation, Angst, Bad Parent Lillian Luthor, Beta Kara Danvers, Between Kara and Supergirl, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Endgame Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, F/F, Fake Love Triangle, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Doesn't Know Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor-centric, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Lena Luthor, POV Lena Luthor, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Kara Danvers, Rape Recovery, Sad Lena Luthor, Sexual Harassment, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Sort Of, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Worldbuilding, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:55:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kahlen369/pseuds/kahlen369
Summary: After a lifetime of terrible experiences with them, Lena had never thought she’d willingly be with an alpha. But when she meets Supergirl, quite likely the most unusual alpha she’s ever met (and she’s not even talking about the superpowers), the impossible no longer seems so impossible.Of course, to make things even more complicated, there’s Kara Danvers, the beta reporter who quickly becomes her only friend in National City.When her omega biology is telling her that Supergirl is her ideal mate, while her heart begins to fall for her beta best friend, Lena is unsure what to do, except push them both away, considering her name and all the little boxes of baggage she's already got weighing her down.But neither Kara nor Supergirl are so easily deterred, and love has a way of slipping through even the tightest of defenses.-Or, a journey of healing, self-discovery, and feelings, all through a needlessly complicated love triangle that doesn't actually exist.(prequel to Red Glow Rut)
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Lena Luthor/Supergirl, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Fated (Mated) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862251
Comments: 13
Kudos: 146





	beneath this skin (i’m still human)

**Author's Note:**

> So, for people who read Red Glow Rut, this is basically the angsty (but still fluffy), plotty backstory for all that smut. This is gonna be a slow, slow burn. The rating is M, because of the subject matter, including child abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and similar triggers in Lena's past, as well as a lot of discussion of some really shitty stereotypes and worldviews common in this AU. Please heed the tags.
> 
> This is basically canonish, with an ABO twist on everything. It'll be following the show's plot, for the most part, but I'll just be picking bits and pieces, so some things won't be quite the same (see: Alternate Canon Interpretation tag). Full disclosure, I've only seen clips of supercorp eps on Youtube and read through the wiki, so all my info through comes from there and fanfic, lol.

From the moment Lena had first met Kara Danvers, there was something  _ different _ about her.

Compared to Clark Kent next to her, interrogating Lena with typical alpha aggression, his eyes that familiar mixture of disdain and suspicion, the comparatively quiet mousy demeanor of the beta should’ve been easily overshadowed. But really, Kara only stood out all the more for it. 

Oh, there was still some suspicion there, but there was none of the posturing or judgement that seemed to be omnipresent around her. Unless they worked for her—and even then, it was 50/50, especially if they were alphas—it was a rarity for her to be treated with a modicum of respect and neutrality. It was a sad state of affairs, but not one Lena was unused to. She was a young, pretty omega, after all. 

Honestly, in some way, Lena preferred the ones who thought she was just like her brother, Lex. It would be the first time in her life, ironically enough, but it did fit in with her general bad luck that the comparisons would only occur when it was no longer favorable. 

Being thought of as a dangerous, morally reprehensible threat was better than  those who saw her as a mere puppet for her family’s ideals and intentions, just a pretty face to place on the company cover while they ruled from the shadows. It was utterly preposterous, considering Lex was in a maximum security prison, and while Lillian was on the board, it was Lena who had been given full control as the company’s CEO. But of course an omega couldn’t possibly have any ideas or agency of her own. 

So, it was almost satisfying to be treated as a credible threat. At least it meant she was being taken seriously. Of course, Lena didn’t actually want to keep being treated like a threat. 

All she wanted was for everyone to see her for what she actually was: a young woman just trying to do what was right, despite everything. She wasn’t some paragon of goodness, but she hoped to right some wrongs. That was what Lena hoped National City would do, what renaming LuthorCorp would do. 

So, when Lena spoke about wanting to get away from her family’s dark shadow, by creating a better legacy, and there was a glimmer of something like understanding in the other woman’s eyes, she thought perhaps there was a chance, after all. 

If she could convince even one person of her goodness, perhaps Lena could find some redemption, after all. 

Finding herself energized by Kara’s belief, she offered them a flash drive with information on the Venture's destroyed oscillator that a subsidiary of the company had manufactured. 

Afterwards, they both thanked her for her help, which was a surprise coming from an alpha like Kent, but she supposed he always was the picture of a gentlealpha. It made him seem a lot more like the friend Lex had described him as, instead of the reporter who’d dragged his name through the mud (however accurate it all was). 

Perhaps he would give her a chance, after all. 

-

Lena’s first meeting with Supergirl (and Superman), was much less ideal. Namely because it involved nearly being assassinated while flying in a copter. As if she hadn’t hated flying beforehand, she now had to deal with the very real increased risk of her dying this way. 

It was nice to have it confirmed that the Supers weren’t going to let her die just because she was a Luthor, but it was a cold sort of comfort, considering she was still being targeted for death. While it was hardly the first death threat she’d received, it was certainly the most committed one so far. 

Though Lena’s outward appearance was a mask of calm, it was impossible to completely hide the truth in her scent. Weak, vulnerable omega fear leaked in regardless of her best attempts to suppress it.

Supergirl clearly noticed, as she quickly responded by sending soothing alpha pheromones her way, which only made her  _ more _ anxious, and she instinctively pulled away, scent betraying the increased fear. 

She hated it when others, namely alphas, forced their pheromones on her, even when it was with “good intentions”. The road to Hell, and all that. Glaring at her savior, Lena said pointedly, voice trembling slightly with anger, and other emotions she didn’t want to place, “Thank you for rescuing me, Supergirl, but I would thank you  _ not _ to force your emotions on me in some misguided attempt to help. I do not need rescuing from my own feelings.”

Supergirl seemed to falter at that. “O-Oh. I’m sorry, Miss Luthor.” For a moment, she looked uncharacteristically nervous, though there was something familiar about it, before she brought herself up, almost literally puffing herself up as she promised, “It won’t happen again.”

It was Lena’s turn to falter then. Though it was certainly the best result she could’ve hoped for to her comments, it was also the most unexpected one. She hadn’t ever thought Supergirl would apologize and then promise not to do it again. 

At best, she’d thought to receive some kind of gruff acknowledgement, but mostly, she’d expected the usual antagonistic response. Part of her had looked forward to it even. Most would call it foolhardy or even suicidal, but unlike most omegas, Lena never backed down from a fight with an alpha. 

With no fight to be found, and a shockingly amenable alpha in front of her, she felt the wind abruptly leave her sails. Floundering a little, she summoned all the calm of her CEO mask, as she managed to say, “I... Thank you, Supergirl. I appreciate it.”

Supergirl gave her a smile, full of pearly whites, that may or may not have made her heart skip a sudden beat at the sight. It was unfairly attractive, and she blamed her inner omega for it.

Thankfully, the superhero had to leave then, quickly flying away with a slightly awkward goodbye, that was probably due in part to the flare of attraction her traitorous scent displayed. 

Not for the first time, Lena hated the existence of omegas, alphas, and this stupid biological hierachy forced onto them all. 

-

Later that night, Lena found herself dreaming of Supergirl’s body pressed closed against hers, her scent enveloping her as much as her strong arms. She smelled like sunshine, wildflowers, and something indescribable. It was utterly intoxicating, and provided her with an anchor of calm during the chaos of her rescue.

The rest of the world faded away, leaving only the two of them together. It was the first time an alpha’s scent had smelled so good,  _ felt _ so good. Lena usually hated alphas in her personal space, especially if they touched her, but not then. 

Right then, she just wanted Supergirl to touch her more, everywhere, really.

At some point during the dream, right as those nimble fingers seemed to make their clothes vanish into thin air, Supergirl morphed into Kara Danvers, and when Lena woke up, wet between her thighs, she wasn’t even sure whose name she cried out.

-

Afterwards, when her heart calmed down and her head cleared, Lena wasn’t sure how to feel. She was… confused, and more than a little disturbed. Wet dreams were not unknown to her, but she’d never had one quite like this about an  _ alpha _

Considering all her traumatic experiences with them, just the mere scent of them tended to turn her off entirely, regardless of her biology’s natural inclinations. 

While she did occasionally experience an instinctive attraction to one, on a pure physical level, it never lasted long—not once it reached her brain, which was always all too eager to remind her exactly why she hated alphas so much.

On some level, that was part of why she hated them. Their distinct scent, with smell being one of the strongest markers for memories, always brought out visions and flashes of times she would much rather forget forever. 

( _ She far preferred this dream, however confusing, over the nightmares that were really just old memories. The bodies pressed up against her smelled like smoke and whiskey, and their touch only hurt, making her ache and cry—) _

Not that her near eidetic memory would ever let her, but Lena could only hope that someday, they might turn faded enough that she would no longer cut herself on their sharp edges every time she forcibly recalled it.

( _ Like most of her hopes, it was probably a lost cause. _ )

But then, Supergirl wasn’t like any alpha she’d ever met before. She’d  _ apologized _ , for fuck’s sake. That seemed more miraculous and hard to believe than her ability to fly. Lena honestly had no frame of reference for how to deal with this. 

Clearly, one miracle had beget another, and the incredibly odd but admittedly pleasant experience of an alpha treating her nice had scrambled her senses to the point of confusion. 

But Supergirl was only one star of her dreams. 

Kara Danvers wasn’t an alpha, but a beta, which did make more sense for her to be attracted to. Out of all of them, Lena preferred betas most of all. Jack was a beta, and at one point, someone she’d thought would be her mate for life. 

Even with her slightly dorky clothes and glasses, she was still beautiful enough to garner a second look. Perhaps not Lena’s usual type, but she could certainly appreciate her regardless. 

In fact, Lena could admit, in hindsight, a certain level of attraction had been there, an undeniable spark at the sight and scent of her, though it had been tempered by the professional setting and the fact that the other woman was a  _ reporter,  _ of all things. 

Kara was definitely not her usual type, which was usually more intellectual, on top of their lives, and calmly confident. Meeting through work was pretty on brand though. That was how she had met Sam and Jack, after all. 

Still, however outside her usual type, Lena could see the appeal there, and under other circumstances, she might’ve been interested in making the dream a reality. 

Supergirl, on the other hand, was truly outside any of her expectations. Not only was she an alpha, but their rather complicated family history left even less to be desired. 

While she wasn’t blind and could see that the super was quite objectively attractive, all the other facts would have made her quite subjectively unattractive normally. 

This strange new exception her subconscious had forced on her was disquieting. Clearly, her anxieties about the assassination attempts and the rebranding were wreaking havoc on her heart and mind. Lena didn’t even want to acknowledge any other reasons for it, not then. 

In a well practiced motion, Lena placed all the uncomfortable emotions and memories into the little boxes in her head and pushed them far away.  _ Out of sight, out of mind.  _

Lena needed to focus. She had a busy day ahead of her, after all.

-

As expected, Lena was swamped with tasks, preparing for the renaming of her company, and far too busy putting out sudden figurative fires to give her dream any more thought. 

Unfortunately, one of the subjects of her dream soon appeared to remind her. At least it was the less confusing one. Or, so she’d expected. But Kara Danvers proved to be quite a conundrum herself, as she seemed strangely invested in her safety. 

“Please, cancel the conference,” Kara repeated, bright blue eyes wide and pleading. “It’s not safe for you, not when you’re being targeted.”

“So, you think I can’t defend myself?” Lena asked pointedly. Perhaps she’d been wrong about Kara Danvers, after all, and she did see her just as a mere omega unable to survive without the protection of those supposedly biologically superior. 

“No, of course not!” She replied immediately, before realizing how it sounded. “Er, wait, I mean I know you can. But this is an unnecessary risk!”

“Kara, it may be a risk, but it isn’t  _ unnecessary _ .” Lena corrected, as she explained. “I don't want my family's company to be remembered as a mere implement used in Lex’s madness to destroy Superman.”

Just like in her office, the reporter seemed understanding of her motives, falling silent with her objections. 

“Thank you for your concern about my safety.” Lena said, meaning it. There weren’t many people who cared about it, after all. “But I can’t just hide away in fear. I need to do this.”

-

Of course, as Kara had warned, the press conference was quickly interrupted with another attempt on her life. As the explosions occurred, Lena swiftly ran for safety. 

Though part of her disliked the idea of running away, like a coward, like a weak omega, she wasn’t so foolhardy as to not realize when she was definitely outmatched. It wasn’t so much running away as a strategic retreat, really. 

Her retreat to safety proved to be quite unsafe after all though, as the police officer she spotted turned out to be an assassin. Fortunately, Agent Danvers managed to hold him off. Unfortunately, he was quickly turning the tide in his favor, soon overpowering the agent. 

Contrary to popular belief, as she’d told Kara earlier, she was not some helpless damsel in distress, not just a weak omega in need of protection. Lena knew how to defend herself. 

She could even protect an  _ alpha _ , as she proved by handily shooting the man about to kill Agent Danvers before he could do so. He fell to the ground with a thud. 

The look she received wasn’t particularly thankful, not that she’d expected much from an alpha anyway, but she wasn’t bristling defensively or getting angry about needing help from an omega, so it was honestly not the worst reaction she could’ve had. 

Considering the agent had saved her life earlier, it was really more of a quid pro quo. Somewhere in all that suspicion swimming in her eyes, Lena liked to think she saw a glimmer of respect too. 

-

All in all, Lena was surprisingly calm for a woman who’d nearly been killed yet again, and who had her grand conference so badly interrupted. Admittedly, she might’ve panicked more, if she hadn’t sort of been expecting this. Instead, she was merely disappointed but unsurprised. 

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She was surprised to she found out who it was that had ordered this assassination. If only surprise was the only emotion she felt at the news. 

Lena couldn’t help feeling a little like she’d just been stabbed through a heart at the news that her once beloved older brother wanted her dead. However much he’d changed, she hadn’t thought he’d changed  _ that _ much. But clearly, the brother she’d once known was as good as gone now.

Needless to say, it took Lena more than a few drinks to get to sleep that night, and when she dreamed, there were no more unsettling sex dreams—only even more unsettling old memories of Lex, morphing from the young boy she’d grown up with, who’d taught her how to play chess, into a stranger whose eyes danced with madness while he strangled her to death.

She woke up gasping, heart racing and head pounding. 

-

Lena took a long, long shower, letting the hot water beat down her back and watching it circle down the drain below her. If there were any tears mixed in too, then no one else had to know. 

-

Afterwards, dressed to kill and face completely free of her earlier emotional state, Lena was honestly surprised to receive a favorable article from Clark Kent. It was a pleasant surprise though, for once, which she greatly appreciated considering her circumstances, and she said as much when the two reporters arrived in her office.

Of course, then was when she received her second surprise (those were happening quite a lot lately) as she found out that Kara was not a reporter, after all.

“Really?” Lena raised a brow. “Well, you could’ve fooled me.”

The way Kara flushed, looking pleasantly surprised herself, as she fumbled through a response. It was interesting, to see a beta so lacking the stereotypical calm and rational nature attributed to them, and Lena had to admit she was intrigued by it. 

Especially as she eyed the way those cheeks pinked so attractively, Lena thought to herself that perhaps Kara Danvers might’ve been her type, after all. Still, she forced the brief flutter in her stomach down. Lena did not have the time or emotional capacity for a relationship, and casual sex was all but impossible for her. Besides, why would Kara even be interested? 

There was no indication she was attracted to women or omegas, and even if she were, why would she choose to be with a Luthor? Especially  _ Lena?  _ It was laughable of her to even entertain the thought of her ridiculous sex dream becoming a reality. 

Right now, Lena had a company to run and a reputation to repair. L-Corp was all she cared about. If she could manage to make a difference in the world, to do some good with the horrible family legacy that had been forced onto her, then Lena would be more than happy with that. 

Anyway, it was all a moot point, because, in all likelihood, she would never even see Kara Danvers again.

( _ Oh, if only Lena knew then how wrong she was.) _

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be updating this at the same time as the other works in this series (might also do some one-shots/shorter fics in this verse), which is probably a really weird way to write a series, haha, but this is how the muse flows, after all. 
> 
> Sorry if there's some discrepancies between here and Red Glow Rut. It's what happened when you don't properly plan things, lol. I'll try my best to make the two consistent-ish chronologically, even if their tones do wildly differ. 
> 
> I wasn't originally going to be writing this fic, because this is going to be a long fic, and I.... don't have the best track record with those, but I had a bunch of headcanons that begged to be written, and I've wanted to do a more serious take on the ABO genre, so: here we go.
> 
> -
> 
> EDIT: I’m currently unemployed, and doing art & writing commissions while I look for work. Please DM me on twitter/IG/tumblr @kahlen369 for any inquiries <3


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